An engine and/or motor may be coupled to a gear box or transmission that includes a gear ratio that converts engine or motor rotation to a speed suitable for propelling a vehicle. The transmission or gear box may reduce or increase engine or motor speed depending on the gear ratio of the transmission or gear box. The number of gears a transmission may have has steadily increased in an effort to improve vehicle fuel economy. For example, some automatic transmissions have eight forward gears and transmissions having more than 12 forward gears may be on the horizon. Further, as the number of transmission gears increase, less control of gear shifting may be provided to a driver since shifting through such a large number of gears may be cumbersome.
On the other hand, some hybrid vehicles have a single fixed ratio gear box while other hybrid vehicles utilize a continuously variable transmission (CVT). Such systems may provide for smooth application of power from the motive source (e.g., motor or engine) to the vehicle wheels; however, the driver may be deprived of the fun-to-drive aspect of being able to control torque applied to the vehicle wheels during vehicle cornering, acceleration, and deceleration.
Consequently, drivers of vehicles having advanced drivelines may not have the level of transmission control that they may desire. Further, even if drivers were given control over all aspects of transmission operation, the driver may be overwhelmed by the complexity and coordination that may be necessary to operate the transmission in a desired manner.
The inventors herein have recognized the above-mentioned disadvantages and have developed a method for operating a transmission, comprising: assigning a first number of transmission gears to a first number of gear shifter position slots, the first number of transmission gears greater than the first number of gear shifter position slots; and shifting a transmission in response to a position of a gear shifter in a gear shifter position slot, the gear shifter position slot included in the first number of gear shifter positions.
By allowing a driver to assign more than one gear to a gear shifter slot, it may be possible to provide the technical result of allowing a driver to experience shifting similar to manual transmission shifting for transmissions that have only one gear ratio or a large number of gear ratios that would otherwise be cumbersome to shift through. For example, gears of a twelve speed transmission may be assigned to six gear shifter position slots so that each gear shifter slot is assigned two gear ratios. The transmission may operate in one of the gear ratios assigned to the gear shifter slot at a time. In some examples, the transmission may be operated in a first gear assigned to the gear shifter slot and then be shifted to the other gear assigned to the gear shifter slot based on driveline operating conditions. In other examples, the transmission may be operated in only one or less than the total number of gear ratios assigned to the gear shifter slot.
The present description may provide several advantages. Namely, the approach may improve a driver's experience driving a vehicle. Further, the approach may simplify manual shifting for a driver of a vehicle that includes a large number of gear ratios. Further still, the approach may allow a driveline without a plurality of gear ratios to provide the feeling of shifting between multiple gear sets.
The above advantages and other advantages, and features of the present description will be readily apparent from the following Detailed Description when taken alone or in connection with the accompanying drawings.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.